LOGAN SQUARE — This year marks the 100th year since the dedication of the Illinois Centennial Monument, Logan Square’s most prominent landmark.
To celebrate, neighborhood groups and organizations are throwing a huge celebration Oct. 14 from 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
The event will bring family-friendly entertainment and activities to the grassy area surrounding the monument, including performances by Aloft Circus Arts and Environmental Encroachment and Collaboration. Local groups like the Marine Leadership Academy school board will man booths. From 11 a.m.-1 p.m., there will be free face panting and balloon animals.
Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) and Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th) are both slated to give remarks, as are Andrew Schneider, president of Logan Square Preservation, and Ward Miller, executive director of Preservation Chicago.
Officials are also expected to provide an update on the years-long Logan Square plaza and traffic redesign project.
As part of the event, organizers are selling limited-edition commemorative posters, which can be reserved by making an online donation to the Logan Square Chamber of Commerce, one of three groups putting on the event. Logan Square Preservation and Kambs Jennings Group of Compass Mortgage are also partners.
The posters, each signed and numbered by artist Steve Shanabruch of The Chicago Neighborhoods, must be picked up at the Kambs Jennings Group tent during the event.
Only 300 posters were made. Elizabeth Kovach of Salty Broad Press printed them.
More details about the event will be released in the coming days. Check the event website for updates.
The monument was dedicated in 1918 after the end of World War I. It was erected to celebrate Illinois’ first 100 years of statehood.
Architect Henry Bacon of the Lincoln Memorial designed the monument, while sculptor Evelyn Beatrice Longman is responsible for the intricate carvings and the eagle perched on top. Longman went on to become the first woman to make a career of creating large-scale public sculptures. Read more here.